Hurricane Sandy: Trees down and power out in Lambertville, but little flooding reported

LAMBERTVILLE -- Kabir Nath was wrapped up in a conference call yesterday afternoon as the winds began to pick up in Lambertville.

Suddenly, he heard a crash.

"I was on the phone and I said, 'I'm really sorry, but I think a tree just fell on my house,'" he said as he shoveled mud from his sidewalk this morning.

Despite the huge tree blocking the front of his stately home on North Union, purchased just two months ago, Nath remained remarkably upbeat.

"It could have been much worse," he said. "We were lucky. There's no significant damage."

It was a message repeated over and over in Lambertville yesterday, where high winds buffeted trees and power lines, knocking out power and scattering limbs in streets, but widespread damage and flooding remained at bay.

There were none of the flash floods from Swan Creek and other waterways that sent feet of water streaming into homes and basements last year during Tropical Storms Irene and Lee. The Delaware River, the culprit of catastrophic flooding in the past, is still several feet below its banks. Projections show the river is scheduled to crest tomorrow at 13 feet, still 5 feet below flood stage.

"I was expecting more compared to last year with Irene," resident Heather Edwards said while walking her pugs Arlo and Ruby around town. "I still need to check my basement, but it could be worse."

"The real question is will it really be seven to 10 days til we get power back?" she asked. "It's not fun -- especially when you get back to work and people don't appreciate that you haven't showered in days."

Lambertville homes lost power shortly before 8 p.m. Monday night as Hurricane Sandy made landfall and winds picked up speed. Roughly 2.4 million people throughout the state are without power today, a figure NJ Board of Public Utilities President Lee Solomon called "absolutely unprecedented" on a statewide conference call and storm briefing.

At the Lambertville Food and Flower Market, owners Anna and Charlie Shin poured $1.50 cups of coffee by candlelight, heating up water with a gas hot plate for a long line of grateful residents.

"I opened here around 8 a.m.," Anna Shin said. "I figured they needed something, being with no power. I'm trying to help out."

Lambertville resident Robert Wilhelm was able to finish making dinner and clearing the dishes before his house was plunged into darkness.

"It was kind of scary last night," he said. "You're sitting there in the dark and all you can hear is the house shuddering and the windows shaking."

Power lines balanced precariously above the street on York Street and several trees had fallen overnight on the D&R canal path that runs through town.

"We have trees down and power out, but we don't have any problems with water," he said. "I hate to say it to people without power, but if they understood what people in other parts of the state -- the Jersey shore, Jersey City, parts of Newark, Hoboken -- are dealing with, then being without power and having your home intact (is not so bad)."

Jersey Central Power and Light still estimates residents could be without power for seven to 10 days, but DelVecchio said he and Lambertville emergency personnel were working to get the power company out as soon as roads and trees were cleared.

Besides Route 202, most roads in and out of town are inaccessible -- Route 29, County Road 518, parts of Route 31 and Route 32 on the Pennsylvania side are all closed, DelVecchio said.

Halloween trick-or-treating is cancelled tomorrow and rescheduled for Saturday as public works crews continue the city's clean-up efforts.

"People are pitching in people are helping out and people should just have patience that were doing the best we can to get JCP&L down here," DelVecchio said. "As soon as we get power back on and get a couple of roads cleared, we'll resume normalcy."